🔍 In short. Italian da for price tags a noun with its monetary worth in two words: una pizza da 5 euro, una giacca da 200 euro, un caffè da 1,50, una macchina da 30.000 euro. The construction is shorter than English and very common at menus, price tags, and shop windows. The preposition da means “worth, of the denomination of”. It is different from di (which states a value as a property: un valore di 50 euro) and different from per (which marks the price actually paid: l’ho pagata 200 euro). Once the pattern clicks, you will read Italian menus and listings the way locals do.
This B1 guide walks through the italian da for price pattern, from a 5-euro pizza to a 500-thousand-euro flat, with banknotes and idioms on the way. The dialogue takes Pamela and Gioele to the porto canale in Cesenatico, where every restaurant board, every fish counter, and every gelato tub carries a small da attached to a number.
By the end you will know when to reach for da, when di is the right call, when you need no preposition at all (with costare, pagare), and how the same shape extends to banknotes, idioms, and even big-ticket figures in the news.
Cosa impareremo oggi
👆🏻 Jump to sections
- What italian da for price really tags
- On the menu: una pizza da 5 euro
- In the shop window: una giacca da 200 euro
- Big-ticket figures: cars, flats, robberies
- Banknotes and coins: una banconota da 50
- Da vs di: where learners slip
- Da vs per vs no preposition with costare and pagare
- Idioms: pezzo da novanta, roba da poco
- Cheat sheet
- Three common mistakes
- Dialog: lunch at the porto canale
- Mini-challenge
- Frequently asked questions
- Related guides
What italian da for price really tags
Walk past the chalkboard of a small trattoria in Cesenatico and you will see the italian da for price pattern in the first line: menù pesce da 28 euro. The da hooks the number to the noun and says “this thing is worth that much” in one quick breath. The same shape works for a 5-euro pizza, a 30-thousand-euro car, a 200-thousand-euro robbery in the news. The thing on the left is the object; the number on the right is its monetary tag.
This is one slice of a wider pattern. The preposition da can mark what a thing is intended for (una macchina da scrivere, a typewriter), a typical trait (occhi da bambino, child-like eyes), a role (vestita da pirata, dressed as a pirate). The italian da for price use is a focused case of that wider sense: instead of “intended for” or “of the type”, you read italian da for price as “of the denomination of, worth”. The Treccani entry on da lists it explicitly as complemento di prezzo o stima and gives the example un cellulare da 50 euro: exactly the italian da for price pattern you will hear at the bar, at the cash register, and on the news.
- Vorrei una pizza margherita da 6 euro, per favore.
I’d like a 6-euro margherita pizza, please. - Hanno comprato un’auto usata da 6.000 euro.
They bought a 6,000-euro second-hand car. - Al telegiornale parlano di una rapina da 200 mila euro.
The news is talking about a 200-thousand-euro robbery.
Three different worlds, one preposition. Whenever you can paste the English “worth X” or “of X” onto the noun, the Italian version is almost always noun + da + amount: that is the spine of italian da for price. Keep that shape in mind for every example below.
On the menu: una pizza da 5 euro
Food prices are where most learners meet the italian da for price tag for the first time. At a pizzeria al taglio the slices are stacked above hand-written labels that read marinara da 3 euro al pezzo or pizza al tartufo da 18 euro: textbook italian da for price in action. The waiter then refers to them with the same wording: vi consiglio la napoletana da 8 euro, “I recommend the 8-euro napoletana”.
- Prendiamo due margherite da 6 euro e una bottiglia di acqua frizzante.
Let’s have two 6-euro margheritas and a bottle of sparkling water. - Il menù turistico da 25 euro include antipasto, primo e dolce.
The 25-euro tourist menu includes a starter, first course and dessert. - Vorrei un fritto misto di pesce da 22 euro, grazie.
I’d like a 22-euro fried seafood mix, thanks. - Un caffè da 1 euro e mezzo è ormai standard al bar.
A 1.50-euro coffee is standard at the bar by now. - Hanno un cono gelato da 3 euro con tre gusti compresi.
They have a 3-euro cone with three flavours included.
Two small notes on the punctuation that matter when you use italian da for price. Italian uses a comma for decimals, not a full stop: 1,50, not 1.50. And the price almost always sits to the right of the noun, never before it: you say una pizza da 5 euro, never una 5 euro pizza. English happily piles “5-euro” on the left of “pizza”; Italian sends the price to the back with da in front, in the classic italian da for price shape.
🎯 Mini-task #1. Add da + price tag to each noun the way an Italian waiter would.
- una pizza diavola, 8 euro
- un piatto di spaghetti alle vongole, 14 euro
- un tiramisù della casa, 6 euro
- una bottiglia di Sangiovese, 12 euro
- un menù del giorno, 18 euro
👉 Show answers
1. una pizza diavola da 8 euro · 2. un piatto di spaghetti alle vongole da 14 euro · 3. un tiramisù della casa da 6 euro · 4. una bottiglia di Sangiovese da 12 euro · 5. un menù del giorno da 18 euro
In the shop window: una giacca da 200 euro
Move from the table to the shops along the viale Carducci and the italian da for price tag shows up on price labels and in customer talk. A jacket worth €200 is una giacca da 200 euro; a pair of leather sandals at €80 is dei sandali da 80 euro; a beach umbrella at €45 is un ombrellone da 45 euro. Compliments and complaints use the same italian da for price shape: è una borsa da 400 euro!, “that’s a 400-euro bag!”.
- Si è comprato una giacca da 200 euro per il matrimonio.
He bought himself a 200-euro jacket for the wedding. - Ho visto delle scarpe da 80 euro al mercato del mercoledì.
I saw 80-euro shoes at the Wednesday market. - Un orologio da 500 euro non è in fondo un grande regalo, oggi.
A 500-euro watch isn’t really a big gift these days. - Una bici elettrica da 1.500 euro mi sembra ancora cara.
A 1,500-euro e-bike still seems pricey to me.
Notice that even when the price is high, the italian da for price structure stays identical. Italian does not switch to a different preposition for round figures or for big numbers. The only thing that changes is how the number itself is read: 1.500 in Italian writing means “one thousand five hundred” (the dot is a thousands separator), not “one point five”. An e-bike da 1.500 euro costs one thousand five hundred euros, not one and a half.
Big-ticket figures: cars, flats, robberies
The Treccani vocabulary gives the textbook case un cellulare da 50 euro, but the italian da for price construction stretches to the largest numbers Italians ever read in a newspaper. Una macchina da 30 mila euro, un appartamento da mezzo milione, una rapina da 200 mila euro: the italian da for price tag handles them all without flinching.
- Si sono comprati una macchina nuova da 30.000 euro.
They bought themselves a new 30,000-euro car. - Vendono un appartamento da mezzo milione vicino al porto canale.
They are selling a half-million-euro flat near the canal port. - Una rapina da 200 mila euro in centro a Forlì, dice il telegiornale.
A 200-thousand-euro robbery in central Forlì, says the news. - Hanno firmato un contratto da due milioni di euro per cinque anni.
They signed a two-million-euro contract for five years.
Two patterns are worth filing away. With mille, Italians often write the number in figures (30.000) but say it as trentamila; in journalism you also see the hybrid 30 mila with the word spelled out for readability. With milione, the number is always followed by di + noun: un contratto da due milioni di euro (the di belongs to milione, not to the price tag). The da stays out at the front, doing its quiet tagging job.
🔍 Two thousands, one tag. Write the number out or in figures, the da in italian da for price does not change. Un orologio da duemila euro equals un orologio da 2.000 euro. With milione and miliardo, remember the extra di with a following noun: un palazzo da tre milioni di euro, never tre milioni euro alone.
Banknotes and coins: una banconota da 50
Money itself is described with the italian da for price tag. A 50-euro note is una banconota da 50 euro (or simply una banconota da 50, with the unit understood). A 2-euro coin is una moneta da 2 euro. A 10-euro note, in colloquial Italian, is even nicknamed un deca, a piece of late-twentieth-century slang that Treccani records: Con un deca non si può andar via, from a 1992 song. The italian da for price tag follows the same logic for these denominations as for prices: the number says what the piece is worth.
- Hai una banconota da 50? Devo pagare il taxi.
Do you have a 50-euro note? I have to pay for the taxi. - Non ho monete da 2 euro per il parcheggio.
I don’t have any 2-euro coins for the parking. - Mi può cambiare la banconota da 100 in due da 50?
Can you change the 100-euro note into two 50s? - Ho ancora a casa una vecchia banconota da mille lire.
I still have an old 1,000-lire note at home.
Same pattern works for stamps (un francobollo da 1,10 euro), tokens at an amusement park (un gettone da 5 euro), tickets (un biglietto da 12 euro for a museum). Anything that carries a printed denomination takes da. The italian da for price family is wider than just shopping prices.
Da vs di: where learners slip
This is the most common mix-up in italian da for price. Both da and di can sit before a number, but they say different things. Da tags the object with its denomination (“worth X”), which is the italian da for price shape. Di states a numeric property as a fact (“a value of X”).
- ✅ Una pizza da 5 euro. A 5-euro pizza (tagged on the menu at €5).
- ✅ Un anello con un valore di almeno cento euro. A ring with a value of at least 100 euros (the value is the noun, di links it to the number).
- ✅ Una giacca da 200 euro. A 200-euro jacket (the jacket is sold/worth €200).
- ✅ Un guadagno di 200 euro. An earning of €200 (di belongs to “guadagno”).
A reliable test for italian da for price: if the number is a tag on the thing itself, use da. If the number is a value stated about an abstract noun (valore, guadagno, prezzo, somma, cifra), use di. So you get una pizza da 5 euro but un prezzo di 5 euro, una giacca da 200 euro but una cifra di 200 euro. The two prepositions are not interchangeable: una pizza di 5 euro sounds wrong to a native ear, almost as if the pizza is somehow made of money. The italian da for price rule keeps da firmly with the concrete item.
For the full picture of how di and da divide work across many other functions, see our dedicated guide on Italian di vs da: the complete guide for English speakers. The price tag is just one slice of a wider split.
Da vs per vs no preposition with costare and pagare
A second source of confusion in italian da for price is the price that you actually pay, as opposed to the price tag on the thing. Italian splits these two ideas with different verbs and prepositions. The thing on a shelf gets the italian da for price tag with da; the transaction uses costare and pagare, often with no preposition at all.
- Tag on the menu: una pizza da 5 euro. A 5-euro pizza.
- What it costs: la pizza costa 5 euro. The pizza costs 5 euros.
- What you paid: ho pagato la pizza 5 euro. I paid 5 euros for the pizza.
- Sold at a price: vendo i libri usati a 5 euro l’uno. I sell used books at 5 euros each.
So you get four different shapes for the same five euros: una pizza da 5 euro (the italian da for price tag), costa 5 euro (no preposition), l’ho pagata 5 euro (no preposition, direct), vendo a 5 euro (price-per-unit with a). English collapses most of these into “for”: “I bought it for 5 euros”, “I sell them for 5 euros each”. Italian keeps them distinct, and listeners read each shape differently.
One curiosity: per can creep in when the focus is on the exchange itself, especially in a slightly old-fashioned register or in legal-style writing: l’ho venduta per 200 euro, “I sold it for 200 euros”. You will also hear ho pagato trenta euro per l’orologio (“I paid 30 euros for the watch”) as a use of per. Both l’ho pagato trenta euro and l’ho pagato per trenta euro are fine; the first is more common in speech, the second adds a small contractual weight.
🎯 Mini-task #2. Fill the gap with da, di, a, or zero (no preposition).
- Vorrei un caffè ___ 1,50.
- L’orologio ha un valore ___ almeno mille euro.
- La pasta costa ___ 7 euro al chilo.
- Ho pagato la giacca ___ 200 euro al saldo.
- Vendo libri usati ___ 3 euro l’uno.
- Mi serve una banconota ___ 50 per il taxi.
👉 Show answers
1. da 1,50 (tag) · 2. di almeno mille euro (value is the noun) · 3. zero, just costa 7 euro al chilo (costare takes no preposition) · 4. zero, just ho pagato 200 euro (pagare takes no preposition); also OK per 200 euro · 5. a 3 euro l’uno (price-per-unit) · 6. da 50 (denomination)
Idioms: pezzo da novanta, roba da poco
The italian da for price tag has also produced a small family of fixed expressions where the number stopped meaning a real price and became a metaphor for importance, quality, or worthlessness. These idioms grew out of literal italian da for price tags over time. They are everywhere in journalism and everyday speech, and they are worth recognising.
- Un pezzo da novanta: literally a 90-mm cannon shell (military), now “a heavyweight, a VIP”. Al convegno c’erano tutti i pezzi da novanta della politica regionale.
All the regional political heavyweights were at the conference. - Un giocattolo da pochi soldi: “a cheap toy”. The tag da pochi soldi describes any low-value object.
A toy worth little money. - Roba da poco / una cosa da niente: “no big deal, trivial stuff”. The da still tags worth, but the “amount” is reduced to poco or niente.
Lit. stuff of little / a thing of nothing. - Un affare da non perdere: “a deal not to be missed”, where da shades from price into recommendation.
A deal not to be missed.
The Italian grammar tradition gives precisely un giocattolo da pochi soldi as a model of value-marking da, alongside the headline-style una rapina da 200 mila euro. The two together show how flexible the italian da for price construction is: the same little word ties together literal price tags, vague “worth little” judgements, and idiomatic “heavy hitters”.
Cheat sheet
The full italian da for price map, in one table you can scan before ordering, shopping, or reading the news. Bookmark it: every box on the table is a piece of the italian da for price system you will use weekly in Italy.
| Situation | Pattern | Italian example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price tag on a thing | noun + da + amount | una pizza da 5 euro | a 5-euro pizza |
| Big-ticket item | noun + da + amount | un’auto da 30.000 euro | a 30,000-euro car |
| Headline figure | noun + da + amount | una rapina da 200 mila euro | a 200-thousand-euro robbery |
| Banknote / coin | banconota/moneta + da | una banconota da 50 | a 50-euro note |
| Stated value of abstract noun | noun + di + amount | un valore di mille euro | a value of 1,000 euros |
| What it costs (verb) | costare + amount, no prep | la pizza costa 5 euro | the pizza costs 5 euros |
| What you paid | pagare + thing + amount | l’ho pagata 200 euro | I paid 200 for it |
| Price-per-unit | a + amount + l’uno / al chilo | a 3 euro l’uno | at 3 euros each |
| Idiom: VIP | fixed | un pezzo da novanta | a heavyweight |
| Idiom: worthless | fixed | roba da poco | no big deal |
Three common mistakes
Three slips flag a sentence as written by a learner of italian da for price, and they all hit the same spot: the choice between da, di, and no preposition.
Mistake 1. Using di for the price tag. Wrong: Vorrei una pizza di 5 euro. Correct: Vorrei una pizza da 5 euro. The pizza is not made of money; it is sold for €5. The price tag is da, not di.
Mistake 2. Adding per after costare. Wrong: La pizza costa per 5 euro. Correct: La pizza costa 5 euro. Costare takes the amount directly, with no preposition at all. The same goes for pagare: l’ho pagata 200 euro is standard; per is optional and slightly heavier.
Mistake 3. Forgetting the di after milione. Wrong: un contratto da due milioni euro. Correct: un contratto da due milioni di euro. The da hooks the price tag; the di belongs to milione and links the million to its unit (milioni di euro, miliardi di dollari).
Dialog: lunch at the porto canale
Pamela and Gioele are walking along the porto canale in Cesenatico after a morning at the beach. The chalkboards outside the fish restaurants near the Leonardo da Vinci canal are full of italian da for price tags; they pick one and sit down. Listen for the prepositions: da for tags, di for values, no preposition with costare. The whole conversation is one long italian da for price drill.
👩🏼🦰 Pamela: Guarda quella lavagna: c’è un menù di pesce da 28 euro con antipasto, primo e secondo. Mi sembra onesto.
👨🏽🦱 Gioele: Lì accanto ne hanno uno da 35 con il fritto misto. Però vediamo prima la carta a parte.
👩🏼🦰 Pamela: Hanno gli spaghetti alle vongole da 14 e le tagliatelle al ragù di pesce da 16. Non male per il porto canale ad agosto.
👨🏽🦱 Gioele: Il fritto misto qui costa 22 euro. L’anno scorso a Rimini ho pagato lo stesso piatto 28, e non era neanche più buono.
👩🏼🦰 Pamela: Va bene, prendiamo il menù da 28 in due. Acqua, mezzo litro di Sangiovese e caffè li chiediamo a parte.
👨🏽🦱 Gioele: Perfetto. Ah, hai una banconota da 50? Vorrei lasciare già qualcosa al cameriere quando ordiniamo.
👩🏼🦰 Pamela: Ho due da 20 e una moneta da 2. Bastano per la mancia, mi sembra.
👨🏽🦱 Gioele: Più che bastare. Comunque, dopo pranzo, facciamo un giro al mercato? Ho visto dei sandali in pelle da 60 euro al banco vicino alla pescheria.
👩🏼🦰 Pamela: A 60 mi sembrano un po’ tanti per un mercato. Però se la pelle è davvero italiana il prezzo è giusto. Andiamo a vedere.
👨🏽🦱 Gioele: Senti, ho letto sul giornale di una barca a vela in vendita da 30 mila euro qui al porto. Un giorno, magari.
👩🏼🦰 Pamela: Un giorno, magari, con un contratto da almeno due milioni di euro. Intanto goditi il fritto.
Count the italian da for price tags: menù da 28 euro, uno da 35, spaghetti da 14, tagliatelle da 16, menù da 28 again, banconota da 50, due da 20, moneta da 2, sandali da 60 euro, barca a vela da 30 mila euro, contratto da almeno due milioni di euro. Note also costa 22 euro (no preposition with costare) and ho pagato lo stesso piatto 28 (no preposition with pagare). One short lunch, the whole italian da for price system in action.
To recap the italian da for price rule in one breath: tag the thing with da + amount, switch to di only when the noun itself is valore or prezzo, drop the preposition with costare and pagare, and remember the extra di after milione. With those four reflexes, italian da for price stops being a guessing game.
🎯 Mini-challenge
Translate each English line into natural Italian, choosing da, di, a, or no preposition.
- I bought a 200-euro jacket at the market.
- The fried seafood costs 22 euros here.
- It’s a 30,000-euro car, but it’s worth it.
- Do you have any 2-euro coins?
- They sell old paperbacks at 3 euros each.
- The contract is worth two million euros.
👉 Show answers
1. Ho comprato una giacca da 200 euro al mercato.
2. Il fritto misto qui costa 22 euro (no preposition).
3. È una macchina da 30.000 euro, ma vale la pena.
4. Hai monete da 2 euro?
5. Vendono i libri tascabili usati a 3 euro l’uno.
6. È un contratto da due milioni di euro.
Test your understanding
Take the quiz below to test what you have learned about italian da for price. The questions cover menus, shop windows, banknotes, the da vs di split, and the no-preposition rule with costare and pagare. After the quiz, the FAQ closes the loop on the trickiest italian da for price doubts.
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Frequently asked questions
Six questions about italian da for price come up in every B1 cohort, from reading menus to handling banknotes. The price-tag use of da central to italian da for price is documented in the Treccani vocabolario entry on the preposition da.
Why is it una pizza da 5 euro and not una pizza di 5 euro?
Because da tags the object with its denomination (‘worth 5 euros, sold at 5 euros’) while di states a numeric property of an abstract noun (‘a value of 5 euros’). A pizza is a concrete item carrying a price tag, so it takes da: una pizza da 5 euro. Una pizza di 5 euro sounds wrong, almost as if the pizza were made of money. The same logic applies to una giacca da 200 euro, un caffe da 1,50, una macchina da 30.000 euro. Use di only when the noun itself is value, prezzo, somma, cifra, guadagno: un valore di 50 euro, una somma di mille euro.
What is the difference between una giacca da 200 euro and una giacca di 200 euro?
Una giacca da 200 euro is the natural way to say a 200-euro jacket: the price is tagged onto the jacket. Una giacca di 200 euro is not standard Italian and sounds wrong; if you want to mention the cost as a noun, you switch the whole phrase: una giacca dal prezzo di 200 euro, or simply la giacca costa 200 euro. Native speakers always reach for da when the noun is a concrete priced item.
Can I say l’ho pagata 5 euro without any preposition?
Yes, and it is the most natural way. The verbs costare and pagare take the amount directly: la pizza costa 5 euro, l’ho pagata 5 euro, ho pagato la giacca 200 euro. You can also add per: l’ho pagata per 200 euro, with a slightly more formal or contractual feel. But never use di or da after costare and pagare: la pizza costa 5 euro is correct, la pizza costa di 5 euro is wrong. The amount slots in like a direct object.
Is una banconota da 50 euro the same construction as una pizza da 5 euro?
Yes, exactly the same. Banknotes, coins, stamps, tokens, tickets and any other piece with a printed denomination all take da: una banconota da 50, una moneta da 2 euro, un francobollo da 1,10 euro, un biglietto da 12 euro. The unit (euro) can even be left out when the context is obvious: hai una banconota da 50? In slang, a 10-euro note is called un deca, recorded by Treccani as a humorous twentieth-century coinage.
What does un pezzo da novanta mean? Is it really about price?
It used to be, but no longer. Un pezzo da novanta originally referred to a 90-millimetre artillery shell (pezzo here means cannon, novanta its calibre). Today it is purely metaphorical and means a heavyweight, a big shot, a VIP: al convegno c’erano tutti i pezzi da novanta della politica regionale. The da tag for value got fossilised into an idiom for importance. Similar fixed phrases include roba da poco (no big deal) and una cosa da niente (a trivial thing), where the value tag has become a comment on worth.
How do I handle million- and billion-euro figures?
Same da on the outside, plus an extra di after milione or miliardo. A two-million-euro contract is un contratto da due milioni di euro, never due milioni euro. A half-million flat is un appartamento da mezzo milione (di euro implied) or un appartamento da 500 mila euro. The number can be in figures or spelled out; Italians often write 30 mila (with the word) in journalism for readability. Remember the Italian decimal convention: 30.000 means thirty thousand (the dot is a thousands separator), not thirty.
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Related guides
Three guides that pair with italian da for price, plus an institutional reference on the preposition da.
- Italian Di vs Da: The Complete Guide for English Speakers: the wider split between the two prepositions, with prices as one slice.
- Italian Da Bambino, Da Giovane: As a Kid, When Young (B1): another focused use of da, this time for life stages.
- Italian In Più, In Meno: Saying Plus and Minus (B1): companion B1 guide on numbers and amounts in everyday Italian.
- Treccani: voce sulla preposizione da: institutional reference on Italian prepositions, including the price-tag use.
